Chickens

I am not an animal lover.  I've accepted this about myself, and I'm okay with it.  When the boys ask for a dog, I now tell them no;  It's no longer 'maybe' or 'some day.'  I know you are shaking your head with disappointment, but it's okay... I am not a bad person. 

This is why I surprised even myself when I wanted to get chickens.  But, chickens aren't pets.... right?  They earn their keep.  They're functional.  At least that was the plan. 

My vision of four chickens roaming in our yard and producing eggs for us hasn't worked out so well.  What has happened is I have chicken poop on my porch, I have to shoo them out of the house when the boys leave the door open, and I'm only getting one egg a day. 

We have now built a chicken run to enclose them during the day.  While I was clearing out vegetation for the chicken run, I discovered what I have suspected for a long time:

I'm pretty sure there is another mound of eggs behind the wood pile, and I think one of our chickens escapes under the fence behind the shed to lay her eggs in the neighbors yard.  Hopefully our new enclosure will encourage our chickens to lay their eggs in the nesting boxes we have so lovingly prepared for them.

There is one member of our family who will be very disappointed with this new arrangement.  Clark loves to crawl into the chicken poop, er... I mean coop, and dump out all the food.  He's going to be pretty ticked off.

Backpacking Trip

Chad took Anderson and Caleb on their first backpacking trip.  As you can tell from the photos, they had a great time.  I can't wait until Clark is old enough for us all to go.  I must confess, though, that my ninja moves aren't quite up to speed.  And, as you can see from the photos, this seems to be a requirement for the trip.  This may turn into a 'boys only' tradition.

Caleb's New Business Venture

Caleb approached me today with a money making plan: "Mom, I know how to trick the tooth fairy.  You just put fake teeth under you pillow."

"Oh," I replied.  "How much money do you think you will make?"

"Probably about twenty dollars," he said.

My Super Powers

You can learn a lot about yourself through conversations with your children.  Tonight, as I was lying next to Anderson during bedtime, our conversation went like this:

"Mom," said Anderson, "if you could have any super power, what would it be?"

"Hmmmm...," I pondered.

Anderson, interjecting: "I bet you would want to be active."

"What do you mean by 'active'?"I asked.

"You would want to be able to run and play and ride bikes and jump on the trampoline," Anderson replied.

"Oh."

Apparently, I'm quite the stick-in-the-mud when it comes to playing with my kids.

I then informed Anderson that I would want to be super fast (insert speedy sound effects here) so I could do all my chores in one second.

"Why?" asked Anderson.  I guess I picked a pretty lame super power.

"Oh...I know," he said, "So you could finish your chores fast and then go to Super Hero Headquarters and wait for a mission to complete, right?" he said.

"No." I answered, "So I could finish all my chores and take a nap."

This is when Chad, who was eavesdropping from the other room, started to laugh.  Anderson is right.  I am a stick-in-the-mud.

Anderson the Amazing

Anderson the Amazing was baptized on Sunday.  Way to go Anderson!  He is such a good boy.  I am very proud of him.  It was cute to see how well behaved he was for a few days after he was baptized.  Everything he said included 'please' and 'thank you.'  He received a mini hymnal as a gift.  He has been asking me to play the piano for him every night so he can sing songs out of it.  =)


We went on a short hike as a family this evening. The boys (even Clark) were like little mountain goats climbing on the rocks by the river. I love living here.

Our Summer So Far

Well, no one is bored yet.  I think that is a pretty amazing accomplishment.  Here are images from our summer vacation so far:

Crazy Caleb.  Anderson is gone at Cub Scout Day Camp this week.  Without my very talkative Anderson following me around the house telling me about his plans to become a billionaire, I find myself looking around and wondering where Caleb is.  Like a typical middle child, he is quietly entertaining himself outside or in the other room. 

Clark is standing on his own.  I think he will be walking in a month or so.

Caleb turned 6 years old.  As you can see, Hulk, Luke Skywalker, and Thor joined us for his birthday celebration.

Anderson wanted to earn money for extra fireworks this year.  He earned $13 selling cookies.  Way to go Anderson!

Look, I'm in a picture!

We have a skunk living under our shed.  This is a picture of Chad being sneaky and trying not to get sprayed.  How do you get rid of a skunk without getting sprayed?  My vote is to use a handgun... but Chad isn't willing to go that route... something about laws and using guns within city limits.  It's hard being married to such an honest man!  =)

Chicken sitting:  we watched our friend's chickens for a week.  Anderson named one of them Sassy Rocket.  I think that is hilarious.  I also think it is the perfect nickname for my Anderson!

Idaho

Our trip for the summer: 10 hours to Idaho and 10 hours back.  Thank you Matt and Katherine for a wonderful time!

We learned that Clark is a great traveler.  I appreciate Chad's willingness to entertain the children in the back seat while I drive faster than he would have.=)

Anderson- Flying a Kite

My 3 year old nephew kept his kite in the air for a long time with no real effort or concern on his part.  He gave me his string to hold and I crashed his kite within 10 seconds.  Bad Aunt!

The guys on their backpacking trip.

Cousins: six boys ages 7 and under.  That, people, is a lot of energy!